EXOD65 Love of God is rooted in the belief that God is a personal God (not an impersonal force in the universe) and that, like a parent, He knows and cares for each of us. Thus the Book of Exodus records God's reaction to the Jewish sufferings in Egypt [this verse]. It is the sense that God knows us, the perception that we each have a personal and unique connection to God* that is an important source of human love for God. * Epitomized in the Jewish joke about the prayer of a struggling businessman: "O God, you help complete strangers, so why don't you help me!"

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EXOD66 According to the Mussar masters, compassion can come in two forms. There is "compassion in the form of compassion," when our feeling along with the other leads us to act kindly, softly, and gently. The second type of compassion comes as "compassion in the form of judgment." In this case, our shared feelings with the other call for action that is firm, hard, or possibly even harsh. The classic example of compassion in the form of compassion is the redemption of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. It has been argued that the Jews in Egypt did not deserve to be redeemed from slavery. There are traditions that say that while in Egypt, the people of Israel assimilated, did not keep what they knew of tradition (which was incomplete, in any case, because the Torah had not yet been received), and, worst of all, became idolaters. The prophet Ezekiel reveals, "I also said to them, 'Cast away, everyone of you, the detestable things that you are drawn to, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt--I am the Lord your God.' But they defied to Me and refused to listen to Me." Ezekiel 20:7–8. Why, then, did God redeem the Israelites and free them from the oppression of slavery? That was solely because of God's compassion [this verse]. The way the prophet Isaiah puts it fits well with our view that compassion is based on the experience of non-separateness:" In all their affliction He was afflicted." Isaiah 63:9 It was based on this identification that HaShem acted compassionately and "brought forth Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror." Jeremiah 32:21

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EXOD67 See [[DEUT1493]] Deuteronomy 27:3 milk and honey TAMARI 28-9

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EXOD68 [God's] first revelation to his people at Sinai, as to his lawgiver Moses [this verse] at the Thorne-Bush (Sneh), was prompted by the suffering and loneliness which, as a just and versatile Father, He could no longer tolerate.

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EXOD69 The idea that a leader's highest virtue is humility must have seemed absurd, almost self-contradictory, in the ancient world. Leaders were proud, magnificent, distinguished by their dress, appearance, and regal manner. They built temples in their own honor. They had triumphant inscriptions engraved for posterity. Their role was not to serve but to be served. Everyone else was expected to be humble, not they. Humility and majesty could not coexist. In Judaism, this entire configuration was overturned. Leaders were to serve, not to be served. Moses' highest accolade was to be called eved Hashem, God's servant. Only one other person, Joshua, his successor, earns this title in Tanakh. The architectural symbolism of the two great empires of the ancient world, the Mesopotamian ziggurat (Tower of Babel) and the pyramids of Egypt, visually represented a hierarchical society, broad at the base, narrow at the top. The Jewish symbol, the menora, was the opposite, broad at the top, narrow at the base, as if to say that in Judaism the leader serves the people, not vice versa. Moses' first response to God's call at the burning bush was one of humility: "Who am I to lead?" [this verse]. It was precisely this humility that qualified him to lead.

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EXOD70 See [[EXOD926]] Exodus 24:12 commandment SPERO 29

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EXOD71 Moses received the Torah at Sinai and handed it down to Joshua... Pirkei Avot, Perek I mIshnah 1. The literal text reads, "Moses received the Torah from Sinai." For if the Mishnah meant "at Sinai," which is the way we usually translate it, the Hebrew form should have been b'Sinai, not miSinai. In its present construction, however, the Mishnah lends itself to the interpretation that Torah in its original Divine form at Sinai was infinite and inexhaustible. Moses received the Torah from Sinai only insofar as his finite humanity permitted him to do so. The word "from" connotes a limitation: could not take all that was there. There is, however, a sense in which Moses was assisted in his historic task by Sinai the mountain! During his first visitation at the burning bush, the Lord told Moses, "And this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." [this verse]. Now, it is difficult to understand how an event which is to happen in the future can serve as a sign to Moses in his present perplexity. However, what was causing Moses to hesitate was his profound humility. His modest nature shrank from the prospect of receiving a Law, admonishing and leading a people. He felt himself to be unworthy. And so the Lord discloses to Moses that "you will serve God on this mountain": the Torah is destined to be given on Sinai, which is not distinguished for its height. Carmel is more majestic, yet the Lord prefers the lowly and modest. From the Lord's choice of Sinai, Moses learned that only those who are humble in their own eyes are fit vehicles for the Divine word. Because of Sinai Moses received the Torah!

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EXOD72 When God wanted to explain the essence of God and His message to the Jewish people in freeing them from Egyptian bondage, Moses asked God, “What is Your name?” Not only man’s essence, but even God’s essence is revealed through a name. Judaism believes that the name of a person is so crucial that it can change and sometimes help determine a person’s personality and future. In fact, the Talmud states that a person’s name impacts upon his future life. Berachot 7b. There is a Talmudic story describing Rabbi Meir as “one who understood the meaning of names.” Yoma 83a When he and other Rabbis went to an inn, Rabbi Meir realized that the innkeeper’s name revealed that he was an immoral person. When everyone else put money in the safe at the inn, Rabbi Meir did not. The next day, the innkeeper denied having received any of the money. Since the name often defines a person, the Midrash states that parents should be very careful in choosing a specific name to match the essence of the baby because the name could determine if the child will grow up to be moral or immoral. Midrash Tanchuma, Ha’azinu 7.

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EXOD73 God has no image because He is not physical. He transcends the physical universe because He created it. Therefore, He is free, unconstrained by the laws of matter. That is what God means when He tells Moses that His name is "I will be what I will be" [this verse], and later when, after the sin of the Golden Calf, He tells him, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy" (Exodus 33:19). God is free, and by making us in His image, He gave us also the power to be free. This, as the Torah makes clear, was God's most fateful gift. Given freedom, humans misuse it--as we noted earlier, Adam and Eve disobey God's command; Cain murders Abel. By the end of the parasha we find ourselves in the world before the Flood, filled with violence to the point where God regretted that He had ever created humanity. This is the central drama of Tanakh and of Judaism as a whole. Will we use our freedom to respect order or misuse it to create chaos? Will we honour or dishonour the image of God that lives within the human heart and mind?

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EXOD75 Do not assume or exaggerate guilt. … Moshe's saying that the Jewish people would not believe him constituted loshon hara and for this Moshe was punished (See Rashi to verses 3 and 6). The Chofetz Chayim asked why Moshe's statement was considered loshon hora. It was necessary for Moshe to ask for a visible means of proving to the people that he was God's messenger. Why did God punish him for it? The Chofetz Chayim wrote in the name of Rabbi Eliyahu Shick that Moshe's error was in saying, "They will not believe me," which is an absolute announcement. Moshe should have said, "Perhaps they will not believe me," which would show that their skepticism was but a possibility. He had no right to assume that they positively would not believe him. Shmiras Haloshon 2:13. From here we learn that even if a person must say something against others for practical reasons, he must be careful not to exaggerate. (See Chofetz Chayim 10:2; see B'air Mayim Chayim 4:43 for a possible exception).

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